Mothers and Daughters
by Neacle
Summary: "The Shepard women were very private people, her daughter no exception, and seldom told her parents much of anything when it came to her lovelife." In which Hannah meets Garrus in the hospital for the first time
1. Boyfriend

Mothers and daughters

Concussion, broken leg, dislocated shoulder, burns on 40% of her body, overall cuts and bruises.

Admiral Hannah Shepard sat by her daughter's bed, lightly stroking her hair. It was over, finally...finally over. Thanks to the woman in front of her, this remarkable woman, who had ridden piggyback on her father's shoulders, cut her own hair at age five because Hannah always wore it short, stayed in late to read "just one more chapter, mom, it's so exciting!", started crying the first time she discovered her biotics and had ruined their kitchen. _This_ woman had just saved the entire world. Words or feelings could not describe the swelling of pride in Hannah's chest when she looked at her, and dear god, she wished her husband could have been here to see. But things were as they were, and the Admiral would take pride in their girl for both of them.

She made a small noise but remained otherwise asleep, completely unaware of her surroundings. Her skin where she had been burnt was shiny and frail, and a few tones lighter than her usual bronze colour. The doctors were forced to shave off her hair to treat her headwound, but her scalp was now covered in a soft, short pelt. The Shepard gene, thick untamed, red hair, Hannah mused. Combine that with her father's frizzled darkbrown locks, and you had the commander's practically impossible hairdo. For now though, it was thin and pleasant to the touch, just reaching the top of her ears. She didn't look very menacing at all, lying here, but Hannah knew better. Everyone did.

She looked over at the bedside table and smiled. Almost half the room was covered in flowers and get-well-soon-cards, many from people the Admiral had never even heard of. Ashley she recognized, Liara and Tali as well. They had served together on the first Normandy. Other names were new, though some rang a bell; Miranda had sent a lovely bouquet of artificial lilies, a nice and quirky gift, Hannah thought with warmth. Or maybe just a coincidence. She looked at several other cards, one of them a hologram-picture of her pilot, and was that a robot beside him?

She looked through some of the others, there was one from a Kelly Chambers, where she wished the commander a speedy recovery, as well as another hologram-picture, this time of her daughter herself. Standing in armor, just about to exit the ship, Hannah guessed. Along with her was a tall woman with black hair and pale skin, with the Cerberus-logo on her chest. That must be Miranda, she thought.

Her daughter hadn't had much time to contact her mother after her surprising resurrection, but had sent quick messages when she could, mostly telling her about her squad. Miranda Lawson had been skeptical of the commander at first, but after a few conversations and excellent teamwork in the field, the two women had become close friends.

On the photo, she appeared to listen to whatever her daughter was saying, and beside her, apparently much more invested in the orders they were receiving, stood a turian.

Garrus Vakarian, Hannah mused. They had served together since day one on this rollercoaster-disaster. Close friends, and more, according to her daughter.

Just as she was about to put the photo down, she heard footsteps closing in and Garrus himself walked into the room. Damn, he looked tired, worn-out.

He must have stayed here since they found her and brought her in, Hannah realized. When Garrus saw her, he stopped in his tracks, probably trying to put the pieces together, then his eyes widened a notch.

"Admiral." He nodded, staying where he was, most likely unsure on how he would act. Hannah nodded back, and urged for him to sit down. Before he did though, he walked over to the table.

"More cards..." He mumbled, as he put them down next to the flowers, then sat down next to her. These cards were also from people she had never heard of.

"It's so strange." She ran her hand up her daughter's arm. "The entire universe is wishing _my _kid to get better, to survive. It's surreal."

"She is known to defy the impossible." Garrus said, his subharmonics flanging.

"That she is." Hannah agreed, and couldn't help but smile at the way he looked at her, he may be from another species, but man was he easy to read. Atleast when it came to this. "Which is why I feel so out of place now." She added. "I can't do anything. Just wait for her to slowly get better."

Garrus only nodded, words weren't necessary to know he felt exactly the same. How many times hadn't he put his faith in her daughter to do the right thing and lead them through hell?

"I'm so damn proud of her though." She continued and grinned. "My little girl; Savior of the Citadel, and now savior of the entire world."

Garrus gave a short laugh and nodded.

"Your daughter is a hell of a commander, ma'am."

Hannah nodded solemnly, then gave him a smug look.

"From what I've heard, she's a lot more than that."

His mandibles twitched, and he straightened in his chair, much to her amusement.

"Ah, well…" He cleared his throat. "Your daughter is a hell of a commander…and woman…ma'am"

He was clearly nervous, which only added to her sudden glee. Then again, he had all the right in the world. Meeting your partner's parents was scary to begin with, and he had clearly imagined another scenario than this for their first encounter.

"Hey, relax." She chuckled and gave his shoulder a light pat. "I don't bite. Honestly."

His mandibles made a quick tug again, before he leaned back against the wall, seemingly more at ease.

"Sorry ma'am, it's just..." He rubbed his forehead. "I don't think this was how she imagined us meeting." He looked over at the hospital-bed and a breathy chuckle escaped him. "I sure didn't"

Hannah smiled warmly and looked over at her daughter as well. There, unconscious, she looked so small, so fragile, nothing at all like the hero she was. Her little girl, she's still a little girl, yet she's seen far more than any human should. To carry all those burdens, all by herself, all alone.

No, not alone. She turned her gaze to Garrus, his fumbling fingers, his tired eyes, never leaving her daughter's sleeping form.

"You know, it's kind of funny." She began, and smiled to herself when he turned to her. "She used to be scared to the bone of Turians when she was small, hid behind me everytime I talked to one."

Beside her, Garrus hummed lightly and crossed his arms.

"Oh, really?" He asked, and sounded rather amused.

"Yep, it was a pain in the ass everytime we had shoreleave. We used to have an apartment on the Citadel that we lived in when we weren't on a ship. Nice place, nice streets, multicultural." He nodded, and she continued. "There was a store there, sold all kinds of figurines made of different metals. I loved going in there everytime we had a break, always bought something to add to the apartment. And I always brought her with me, it was one of my favourite stores after all, and I wanted to share that with her."

Garrus leaned forward to rest his arms on his knees.

"Something tells me she didn't like that store though."

Hannah laughed at that.

"You can say that again." She grinned. "The storeowner was a turian, nice lady, two teenage kids, husband- or mate, I suppose. We always talked a little before I bought something, catching up you know? Problem was, my little girl refused to show her face, always clinging to my leg, hiding. One time, the clerk tried to say hello, even bent down in front of her."

Hannah rubbed her forehead, and chuckled at the memory.

"That didn't go well I take it." Garrus mused.

"Absolutely not, all hell broke loose." She laughed. "That was the last time I brought her with me, I don't know how many times I apologized to the owner. She didn't take offense though, thank god."

She chuckled again and looked over at the bed, smiling affectionally.

"Took a while for her to get over it, she was eleven I think. Her father had taken her to buy groceries, she got lost in the store. An elderly turian-couple helped her find him again." Hannah shrugged. "After that, she was still a bit shy, but gradually opened up more. Then I guess she just forgot what she thought was so scary." She smirked at him. "And look at her now, a turian boyfriend, who would have thought?"

Garrus looked away at that, but she saw that a smile crept up on his face.

"There's no one in the galaxy I respect more than her." He said, still looking away. "That she even considered me as something more than a friend, well- I feel honoured, in the purest sense."

Hannah was quiet for a moment, then punched him lightly on the arm.

"Damn, son, if you didn't convince me before that you were worthy of my girl, you sure did now."

He scoffed at that, but a bit of pride snuck its way across his features.

"I wasn't trying to convince you I'm worthy ma'am, she has the best sense of judgement I know, so if she has decided to waste her days on me, then I must be worth something." He chuckled though, and looked at her. "But I'm still glad that she won't wake up seeing her mother beat me up."

A wheezing laugh escaped her at that and she struggled to draw breath for a while.

"You have the oddest sense of worth about yourself, young man." She shook her head when he just shrugged and leaned back against the wall again. He gave off smugness one moment, but then the next, immediately seemed to tell himself he didn't deserve her daughter. Over the various calls and messages mother and daughter had sent eachother over the years, Hannah had got the impression that the commander clearly saw huge potential and thought the world of the turian next to her. The Shepard women were very private people, her daughter no exception, and seldom told her parents much of anything when it came to her lovelife. Hannah had always had to pry it out of her, even then with little success. Therefore she knew very little of the current relationship before her, only that her daughter had started it and that she seemed very content the last time they spoke with eachother.

She had never questioned her choices in boys before, and saw no reason now. That Garrus was here by her hospital-bed now, deadtired as he was, but not leaving her side even though she was going to be fine, was reason enough. It made Hannah curious as to how the two people in front of her had taken the step from comrades in arms to- well, comrades in _arms_. If she couldn't get her daughter to talk, perhaps Garrus was more open.

"My dear offspring isn't that keen on sharing what's going on in her personal life." She began, and beside her, Garrus made a noise that sounded like agreement. "So I have no idea how you two actually got together, care to satisfy a mother's curiosity?"

He immediately seemed to look more uncomfortable, as he crossed his arms and cleared his throat. An awkward silence settled upon them and Hannah's curiosity was at once replaced by skeptical worry. Then Garrus' mouth opened, as if he was about to say something, then closed again. Hannah crossed her arms as well and gave him a sharp look, which seemed to be the kick he needed.

"I'm not sure I would explain it very good." He coughed.

"Explain?" Hannah repeated. "You make it sound like such a complicated thing, you're making me nervous kiddo." She jokingly smiled and unfolded her arms. Garrus groaned and tilted his head to the side.

"Well..." He rumbled. " It was before the Collector base. You know how it is. High risk mission, casualties was a huge possibility. What do you call it..."Cakewalk" compared to this, but we didn't know that then." He looked over at the bed and his eyes softened for a quick moment. "She...expressed interest in me. In situations like this, you take comfort where you can I suppose." He rubbed his neck and coughed. "Damn, that sounded awful."

But Hannah only nodded slowly. Ah, casual sex. Dangerous mission, small chance of survival. She got that.

"I understand if you're nervous." She chuckled. "But come on, those things happen more often than you think, and look where you are now. She clearly wanted you for more than a tumble in the sheets."

He shifted in his seat while giving off a light cough, and Hannah laughed loudly.

"Like I said..." He mumbled. "Collector base sounds like a welcomed distraction right about now."


	2. Daughter

To say her newly awakened daughter was high on morphine was an understatement. The first few days she had spoken nothing but gibberish, clearly confused about everything and nothing. A couple of days after that, whenever Garrus was near, the usually so collected and imposing woman, did nothing but try to flirt his ears off, or whatever the turian equivalent was. Hannah had almost fallen off her chair in laughter as the commander, destroyer of reapers and savior of galaxies had grabbed his face and kissed him so loudly and sloppy that the admiral swore that everyone who walked passed the room could hear her.

Garrus had been very awkward and silent after that, avoiding looking Hannah in the eye unless he had to. They had, however, come to a mutual agreement to take turns watching over her daughter now that she was awake, if somewhat groggy.

Today, Hannah had decided to run a few short errands, seeing as her girl had started to come out of the drugged haze and actually could throw demands. So out she went, because really, right now Hannah would probably do anything her daughter asked of her. It took some time for her to catch a ride, seeing as most of the transport went to construction. All the major cities had taken massive damage, but most of them were slowly getting back on their feet, and a few stores had opened again.

Hannah had grabbed what she needed, before quickly taking a skycar back to the hospital. Once she reached her daughter's room, she stopped right outside to see her and Garrus talking quietly with each other. He had his forehead rested against hers and she had a gleeful smile covering her face.

"Why do I have to be stuck in this stupid bed and you have to look so damn tempting?" She heard her whine, and she snickered quietly to herself.

"I look like this all the time, Shepard." He rumbled and sat back up, much to her disapproval, by the sound of it. "And you still have morphine in your body."

"I have not!" She protested and folded her arms as much as she could. "Can't a girl pay her man a compliment without him accusing her of being high?"

Garrus laughed at that and touched their foreheads together again before standing up.

"I'll take a compliment from you any day." He said and leaned back on his left leg, before he glanced in Hannah's direction. "But your mother is back, and I do believe I should give you two some time."

The admiral was slightly taken aback that he had noticed her, but then smiled and entered the room. He gave her daughter a final stroke on the arm before heading out. He nodded respectfully at Hannah, and then he was gone. The commander leaned back in her bed again and groaned.

"I hate being stuck here, I have never felt more useless!"

Hannah chuckled at that and took a seat at the edge of the bed.

"You have been stuck in hospital-beds before, dear." She smiled. "Plus, I think you need the vacation."

Her daughter scoffed at that, and wrinkled her nose.

"I wouldn't call this vacation..." She grumbled and ran a hand through her hair. It was now a very fluffy, and very solid hat made of hair she had on her head, literally. Hannah knew all too well the absolute nightmare of that.

"What were you whispering about all quietly and whispery when I got back though?" She asked and grinned at her daughter. She gave Hannah a light punch in the arm.

"It's not what you think." She muttered. "I was asking him about the rest of the crew, I looked through most of the cards from them, but they're not saying what they're doing. Just wishing me well." She rubbed her bandaged arm. "I heard Tali was here right when they brought me in, stayed until they said I was going to make it. She's on Rannoch now, probably helping them get started."

Hannah nodded.

"I heard they were all here when you came in" She said. "I didn't get a chance to meet them though, when I arrived here, they had already left, and the ones who were injured had been released."

"Yeah, Ash had a broken leg and such." Her daughter confirmed. "She and Garrus were with me in the final run...Both got pretty beat up, had to leave them behind with the ship." She chuckled bitterly. "Garrus wasn't too happy about that."

"I can imagine." Hannah stroked her cheek and smiled. "He cares about you a lot, he seems very sweet."

The commander hummed and closed her eyes, a small smile on her lips.

"He told me about your little story of me when I was smaller. He's going to tease me forever." She muttered. "So, thanks for that."

Hannah snorted and leaned down to stroke her hair.

"You're most welcome." She snickered. "But come on, it's a funny story, very ironic."

"I guess so." She smiled, before giving her a look. "He also told me that you asked him how we got together. I'm going to kill you for making him tell, and then kill him for breaking so easily."

Hannah laughed out loud and covered her mouth with her palm. Her daughter only frizzled more.

"He was so embarrassed." She muttered. "You could have waited until I woke up, I would have told you...eventually, I swear!"

"Come on, honey." Hannah sighed when she successfully stopped her laughing. "You were stuck on a ship, heading into god knows what, you think I don't know about people seeking pleasure together in situations like those?"

Her daughter was quiet for a moment, clearly contemplating something. She tilted her head to the side and rubbed her chin before replying.  
"Yeah, I know...It's just-" She struggled for words. "It's not the kind of start to a relationship you eagerly tell your folks." She groaned and fumbled with her fingers for a bit. "I trusted Garrus, and felt an attachment, sure. But it was just a fun time between friends." A light shrug. "Then after the Collector Base...I don't know, I guess we just crossed the line without even realizing it."

Hannah was quiet at that, and only nodded. The two women sat in silence for a while after that, not awkward, but a comfortable space between mother and child. Then her daughter lightly cleared her throat and looked up.

"Did you buy anything?"

At first Hannah had to let her wheels turn for a bit, then she snapped out of the haze.

"Oh, right!" She grabbed the bag and put it in her lap. "No cafés has actually opened yet, so you'll have to live with a frozen, grocerystore bought pie."

When her daughter had first started to come out of her morphine-drugged state, she had shyly sighed that she would kill for some classic apple pie. After so long living on rationpacks, she thought she damned well deserved some.

"That's more than fine mom." She sighed happily and put the box aside for now. "You didn't even have to, it was a stupid request anyway."

"Bullshit!" Hannah snapped. "Of course I'm going to buy my daughter some goddamn pie, it's like- the simplest request I have ever heard!" She rubbed her over the head and made a frustrated noise. "I even found the candy you mumbled about, took some time, but I did it!" She took out a package of dextro-amino chocolate, a bit unsure why her daughter wanted it.

The commander only stared at her, her mouth agape, before quickly snatching it out of Hannah's hands, apparently very embarrassed.

"What are you even going to use it for?" She asked. "You can't eat it, and if it's for Garrus, I'm hoping by now that he can actually ask me himself."

"It's just a gift!" The commander mumbled, putting it away as well."But thanks, mom."

"Okay, yeah." Hannah chuckled. "No problem, kid."

Her daughter leaned back against her pillow and sighed, giving the admiral a long look.

"Looking forward to get out of here?" She asked gleefully.

"Oh, yeah..." The commander muttered. "This is pure hell."

"I'm sure it's not that bad, dear." She stroked her chin. "What are you going to do once you get well anyway?"  
A pleased grin settled upon her daughter's face and she crossed her arms.

"That, my dear mother-" She purred. "-is an x-rated little secret I'm not going to share with you."

"What are you- oh..." Hannah stared at her daughter. "For god's sake, kiddo. Don't give me images, I am your mom!"

When Garrus returned later, the commander was in deep sleep with Hannah quietly reading reports on her pad. He greeted her respectfully and she nodded back with a forced smile before quickly looking down at the text before her again. Despicable, evil little child, she thought bitterly before casting a quick glance her daughter's way. Despicable, evil, stubborn, brave, smart, perfect little child.


End file.
